Your baby’s excrement is more important than you think!

How is your little one’s excrement important? Why do parents have to check its texture, smell, color and how it looks regularly?

Excrement of a newborn varies in terms of types and colors. While a newborn’s excrement looks grey (within 48 hours), colors and types will subsequently change after babies age. The texture of excrement is as soft and liquid-like as toothpaste. It may look like tablets with mucus.

What is implied by colors of babies’ excrement?

• Black or grey: the normal colors for a newborn. They will last only within 48 hours.
• Gold-like yellow: the normal color for a breast-fed baby.
• Green, orange, orange and yellow: the normal colors for a newborn who is breast-fed and drinks some milk or drinks some milk only without breast feeding.
• Pale white: possibly caused by bile duct diseases which requires a treatment by a doctor immediately.
• Red: Constipation, ulcers on the buttocks, milk allergy, diarrhea or some infections

How many times do babies defecate?

For a breast-fed newborn, excretion will be from time to time or after breast feeding. Babies may defecate 5-10 times averagely per day whereas others may do so 10-20 times daily. During breast feeding, babies may wriggle or fart and some small feces may come out.

When babies are 2-3 months old, they may defecate only 1-2 times per day or day after day or 3-5 times per day. Some babies may defecate 1-2 times a week. (Breast feeding is normal.)

Babies who are fed on milk powder, they may defecate 1-3 times per day and the texture of excrement will look like toothpaste. (Amount, color and type of excrement depend on types and brands of the milk powder a baby drinks.)

What you need to know

1. In terms of breast-fed babies who do not defecate every day, it may be because the breast milk is easily digested, so the milk is absorbed in the intestine almost completely and little residue is left to become feces.
2. In terms of constipation, doctors will consider it from texture of the excrement, not how many times babies defecate. As a result, constipation refers to defecation looking like a pile of solid excrement. It is usually found among babies fed on milk powder and disproportioned milk which may be too intense or too thin. A brand of the milk may matter. A newborn normally defecates several times.

Taking care of babies is essential. Parents should choose a soft and elasticated diaper which is able to absorb liquid for up to 10 hours. Moreover, the diaper must not allow leakage and must have passed the hypoallergenic test that indicates gentleness to sensitive skin of a baby. Doing so will allow the little one to be happy and be able to learn better.

Since excrement can tell you a lot, especially how healthy your baby is, so do not forget to observe it regularly.

Dr. Ruangruethai ‘Ruang Khao’ Chimsang, Specialized pediatrician